I've not written a hunting report in a while so thought I was overdue. I know some of you guys have hunted there many times, but the info might be of use to those thinking of visiting Namibia. I arrived back yesterday and will add info as I get chance.
During my first ever hunting trip to South Africa I was invited to a dinner party held at the home of our PH after our hunting had finished. That trip was an eye opening experience and an interesting and informative introduction to hunting Africa. I mentioned that I'd really like to hunt a Gemsbok and was told they were available there before a friend of our PH stepped in and said "You don't want to hunt them here (Eastern Cape) you want to hunt them up north, where they belong, in the sand, in the Kalahari". Right at that moment a seed had been sown.
Since then I've visited South Africa several times but always resisted the opportunity to hunt Gemsbok after that conversation. Fortunately my friend Gordon invited me to hunt in Namibia with him, in the Kalahari.
In 2015 Gordon made the acquaintance of Outpost Safaris. A Namibian based outfit operating on a huge 40,000 acre (15,000 hectare) area of Kalahari bordering the Botswana border. Look at a map where South Africa, Botswana and Namibia meet and there you are. He hunted with them the following year and chose to return in 2018 after his previous tales of hunting there I jumped at the chance to go with him.
We booked flights with South African airways to Windhoek via Johannesburg. We've found them to be a good airline and they have no additional fees for flying firearms. Our bags and guns were checked all the way through from Heathrow to Windhoek so didn't have to run the gauntlet of dealing with the South African police in Jo'burg an experience I don't relish. Currently at the time of writing there is no need to apply for a firearms export permit like there is in South Africa.
After clearing immigration in Namibia and collecting our hold luggage we reported to the local police office where we picked up our rifles and ammunition. The whole process took just a few minutes. There we met a couple from the US, they had the largest and heaviest gun case I've ever seen in my life. Apparently it contained amongst others a 9.3 x 62 as the lady was there to hunt an elephant. We obtained our Namibian gun import licenses and were on our way to meet our PH, Frank, We jumped into his truck and our Namibian adventure began.
During the trip we were told about the various species in our hunting area as well as those also burrowing under and climbing over an 8 kilometer twin high fence line on the Botswana border. It appeared that Franks place was under constant attack from lions, cheetah, hyena, caracal, jackal and on occasion, leopard. On the Botswana side of the fence lies a national park with a high concentration of predators. On the Namibian side a large population of gemsbok, which I'll now refer too using the Namibian name of Oryx, Kalahari springbok, eland, red hartebeest, ostrich, steenbok, duiker as well as sheep and cattle farmed there. Knowing how secretive these predators can be I didn't expect to see any of them, I had no idea of the surprises and experiences we were in for.
The lodge was surprisingly comfortable. We were initially booked into their 'hunters camp' but due to an administrative error we were upgraded to another lodge on the property which the land owner uses to entertain family and friends. The bedrooms had excellent views of the game hunting area, a comfortable lounge area and it turns out that Franks girlfriend just happened to be a trained chef. The springbok we had for dinner that evening was excellent.
We eventually retired for the evening to get some much needed sleep after a long day of travelling. Annoyingly I awoke early and at around 5.30 am whilst laying in bed I heard a familiar noise outside. I often take my young son to Chester Zoo and Yorkshire Wildlife Park so the deep and low noise coming from outside was unmistakable to me, it was a lion calling, a noise I've heard many many times at these two zoos. I opened the doors to listen and could tell he was some distance away.
At breakfast Frank advised he'd also heard the cat and thought that due to the level of detail he could hear in the call that it was about four kilometers away in Botswana. Some of the staff at the lodge had also heard the calling. The local indigenous people are terrified of lions and a new starter didn't want to walk the 300 meters or so from her house to the lodge knowing a lion was in the area! We had breakfast and headed for the range to zero our rifles.
The view from my bed. A salt lick around two hundred yards from the lodge regularly attracted Kalahari Springbok, Eland, Oryx, Sable and Ostrich.
The lodge.
More to follow when I get chance.
During my first ever hunting trip to South Africa I was invited to a dinner party held at the home of our PH after our hunting had finished. That trip was an eye opening experience and an interesting and informative introduction to hunting Africa. I mentioned that I'd really like to hunt a Gemsbok and was told they were available there before a friend of our PH stepped in and said "You don't want to hunt them here (Eastern Cape) you want to hunt them up north, where they belong, in the sand, in the Kalahari". Right at that moment a seed had been sown.
Since then I've visited South Africa several times but always resisted the opportunity to hunt Gemsbok after that conversation. Fortunately my friend Gordon invited me to hunt in Namibia with him, in the Kalahari.
In 2015 Gordon made the acquaintance of Outpost Safaris. A Namibian based outfit operating on a huge 40,000 acre (15,000 hectare) area of Kalahari bordering the Botswana border. Look at a map where South Africa, Botswana and Namibia meet and there you are. He hunted with them the following year and chose to return in 2018 after his previous tales of hunting there I jumped at the chance to go with him.
We booked flights with South African airways to Windhoek via Johannesburg. We've found them to be a good airline and they have no additional fees for flying firearms. Our bags and guns were checked all the way through from Heathrow to Windhoek so didn't have to run the gauntlet of dealing with the South African police in Jo'burg an experience I don't relish. Currently at the time of writing there is no need to apply for a firearms export permit like there is in South Africa.
After clearing immigration in Namibia and collecting our hold luggage we reported to the local police office where we picked up our rifles and ammunition. The whole process took just a few minutes. There we met a couple from the US, they had the largest and heaviest gun case I've ever seen in my life. Apparently it contained amongst others a 9.3 x 62 as the lady was there to hunt an elephant. We obtained our Namibian gun import licenses and were on our way to meet our PH, Frank, We jumped into his truck and our Namibian adventure began.
During the trip we were told about the various species in our hunting area as well as those also burrowing under and climbing over an 8 kilometer twin high fence line on the Botswana border. It appeared that Franks place was under constant attack from lions, cheetah, hyena, caracal, jackal and on occasion, leopard. On the Botswana side of the fence lies a national park with a high concentration of predators. On the Namibian side a large population of gemsbok, which I'll now refer too using the Namibian name of Oryx, Kalahari springbok, eland, red hartebeest, ostrich, steenbok, duiker as well as sheep and cattle farmed there. Knowing how secretive these predators can be I didn't expect to see any of them, I had no idea of the surprises and experiences we were in for.
The lodge was surprisingly comfortable. We were initially booked into their 'hunters camp' but due to an administrative error we were upgraded to another lodge on the property which the land owner uses to entertain family and friends. The bedrooms had excellent views of the game hunting area, a comfortable lounge area and it turns out that Franks girlfriend just happened to be a trained chef. The springbok we had for dinner that evening was excellent.
We eventually retired for the evening to get some much needed sleep after a long day of travelling. Annoyingly I awoke early and at around 5.30 am whilst laying in bed I heard a familiar noise outside. I often take my young son to Chester Zoo and Yorkshire Wildlife Park so the deep and low noise coming from outside was unmistakable to me, it was a lion calling, a noise I've heard many many times at these two zoos. I opened the doors to listen and could tell he was some distance away.
At breakfast Frank advised he'd also heard the cat and thought that due to the level of detail he could hear in the call that it was about four kilometers away in Botswana. Some of the staff at the lodge had also heard the calling. The local indigenous people are terrified of lions and a new starter didn't want to walk the 300 meters or so from her house to the lodge knowing a lion was in the area! We had breakfast and headed for the range to zero our rifles.
The view from my bed. A salt lick around two hundred yards from the lodge regularly attracted Kalahari Springbok, Eland, Oryx, Sable and Ostrich.
The lodge.
More to follow when I get chance.
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